... and the name of the files seem to encode the actual value, in b64, the captcha wants. if you know the key, you could just scan the filename without opening the imagine and get it right. just blocking other bots. (hypothesis!)

under preferences add a menu item "use dark theme" which can be checked, if you uncheck the "allow subreddits to show me custom themes".

maybe even a little "use custom css"-interface where you can play with color/font settings and it directly displays them in a demo. save them in a cookie and add a little script checking for the values. if a value in this cookie throws an error, catch it and replace that value with a default one.

(not everyone knows how to manually edit css and how to add a script that overrides the css of the site ;))

add an additional sort option, "sort by activity". pretty much the (old) standard sorting of forums, where a post bumps the thread to the top. this is very useful for small subs. (this one really bugged me about reddit...)

add some varying logos like the chans or pouet do. start a pinned thread, where people can submit their design. just randomly pick one on load - maybe add an option in preferences "always load dis logo", but not necessary. the current one is ugly af (personal opinion ;p)

you could also think about adding an opt-in mining algo. (only as opt-in option, never ever by default!)
this way all users could use some spare computing power to financially support the website. (or alter the algo to mine for themselves... which they could have done from the very beginning anyway... xD)

the point about "environment-friendly" is a heavy one, thou. some cryptos are trying to get rid of the Proof Of Work concept, which is really resource heavy in most(all?) cases (you burn a lot of energy), towards a Proof Of Stake concept. I have no idea if an opt-in mining option/algo is possible with an underlying PoS structure.

ok, i kinda don't want to read the paper to the end. (but i guess i have to... maybe tomorrow, got rl to do)

my current analysis is, that the article is complete bullshit. the author most likely only read the abstract of the paper...

the paper itself i would rate as low quality to OK-ish. the studies were done via an online platform with a participant size of ~250 (varying). dat sample size... sure you can conclude a meaningful statement out of it regarding whole of humanity /s. additionally it may be possible that some people know how to change their IP and take the study more than once.

they are claiming they used "random" patterns... yeah, algorithm generated randomness... tell me more about it. talk to a crypto anarcho and try to claim an algorithm is random. he is going to stump you into the ground. they should have used the correct term of pseudo-randomness. most likely their "random" algorithm wouldn't even qualify for any cryptographic use, because it isn't pseudo-random enough to be secure. (just a claim! didn't look at the algorithm)

i lost it, when they first wrote that they've input a distribution of 50/50 over 100 coin tosses in the algorithm and afterwards claimed that every coin toss has exactly 50% chance of being heads or tails. dude, fucking learn and understand the algorithm you are using. after the first coin toss, the probability is 49/50. you coded it in yourself.that is not a 50% chance.

why should i trust anything out of this paper if you can't even do basic math?

at that point i stopped reading the paper... and no there is no reference of pizzagate in that paper until that point.

aristotle had some really good ideas, but most of them were just plain stupid/wrong. he slowed us down for a few thousands of years, because people worshiped him and didn't allow criticism of his ideas.

the only problem with self-signed certificates is, that you have to accept them manually.

for anyone not knowing what the fuck a certificate is this looks "shady". ..but there really is no technical/security issue with self-signed certificates.

a lot of "big" ca issuers have been regarded as "not trustworthy" or at least "shady" in security minded communities. (i don't really know much about this topic, to confidently state something... i just know things are somewhat shady...)

... don't know if a self-signed certificate would be an option for this domain, i wouldn't mind :)

This phenomenon, called illusory pattern perception, they write, is what drives people who believe in conspiracy theories, like climate change deniers, 9/11 truthers, and “Pizzagate” believers.

i can't find any reference to pizzagate in the paper this article is based on. the article just included it on their own. why?

not finished reading the paper. if i find a reference, i gonna refute this.

/edit: oh, and they are moving the goal post in the article... first they are talking about conspiracy theories in general, afterwards they reduce it to false conspiracy theories... the paper seems to only focus on false theories and not all.